1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an earpiece/wire organizer and method for using same to house and maintain wires in an untangled manner; and more particularly, to a wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with a plurality of mating spine pieces appointed to releaseably engage with one another.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical earphone or headset constructions comprise a main audio wire which is adapted to connect to a jack integrated within an electronic, audio or optical device. In one form of these organizers, left and right wires connect with the main audio wire to form a “Y”-type construct which delivers audio from an electronic device such as a music device, mp3 player, and/or cellular phone. The left and right wires, or upper legs of the Y, are associated with left and right ear buds which, when worn, allow the user to hear music or sound transmitted from the electronic device. Other earphone or headphone devices involve a single wire attached to a first ear bud and a second ear bud. A microphone jack may additionally be included to transmit audio from the user to the electronic device, and to another user's electronic device; such wiring arrangements are used in the mobile phone industry.
In practice, headphone wires are stored in a pocketbook, gym bag, pocket or the like. Unfortunately, the wires forming the headphones tend to tangle and knot making it difficult to quickly connect and use the ear piece with the electronic device or transmission device. This entanglement can be very annoying. Oftentimes untangling of the wires can be difficult and time consuming. Even still, frequent entanglement and untangling can cause eventual damage to the left and right wires, impacting sound quality.
Various devices are currently provided for organizing wires. However, none of the devices provide the ability to compress and elongate the wires in a manner which maintains severability of the wires and prevents entanglement thereof.
Several of the wire organizer devices heretofore disclosed and utilized involve coverings or jackets constructed with a unilateral elongated body having edges appointed with engageable zipper elements. Exemplary of these types of jacket coverings, are the following patents. U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,054 to Stachura discloses a flexible sheet of electrically conductive material having meeting but separable closure edges with engageable tooth and groove zipper elements adapted to encircle a conductor; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,391,838 to Plummer discloses a rectangular casing with inner and outer surfaces and edges having a conventional zipper provided there along so that the casing may be closed to form a removable tube around conductors to be shielded. These devices are generally separate from the wires and merely operate to wrap around or encase the wires in order to neatly store same when the zipper elements on the edges of the elongated body are engaged. Organization of the wires by application of these jacket-like devices results from bundling within the jacket covering; the wires themselves are not provided with integrated organization means. The wires located within the jacket are not maintained in a separate yet joined manner. Consequently, they may be subject to tangling within the jacket. When the jacket is removed, the wires must be untangled from one another.
Other wire organizers involving zip-up devices are generally constructed with zip-up mechanisms integrated along bodies of wires operable to releaseably join the wires upon engagement of a zipper or sliding element. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,026 to DeFlorio discloses a pair of tangle resistant electrical test leads attached to a nonconductive slide fastener, such as a nylon zipper, that co-joins cords by engaging the slide fastener or zipper; U.S. Pat. No. 6,909,050 to Bradford discloses an electrical cable system including a first electrical cable and a second electrical cable constructed to releaseably join to form a co-joined cable by strip and groove mating; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0069147 to Pedersen discloses a headset wire for a portable electronic device including a zipper used to releaseably join or separate pairs of wires; Foreign Patent Publication No. EP 1509062 to Fung et al. discloses a headphone apparatus appointed with a zipper slider for sliding along cords of the headphone and thereby joining or disjoining two cords; Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 07211146 to Tateno discloses a stereophonic earphone cable having a fastener on a side of each the left and right earphone cables and a chuck or slider to co-join the cables; and Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 2004056636 to Kihachiro discloses a headphone apparatus integrated with a slider type fastener over substantially the entire length of each cable so that each branch cable can be co-joined.
These integrated zip-up devices, as well as aforediscussed jacket constructs, fail to provide a sleeve surface that enables scrunching or compression and elongation or lengthening of the wires. As such, the co-joined and bundled wires cannot be compressed for enhanced compact storage. Coiling of the co-joined wires and/or jacket containing the bundled wires may be an option to achieve a more orderly neat maintenance; however, this would subject the co-joined wires and/or jacket of the bundled wires to tangling.
Another broad categorical type of apparatus for organizing wires involves devices having a member for pulling two wires together without lengthwise co-joining of the wires. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,126 to MacDonald et al. discloses a hands-free earpiece headset configured such that a second earpiece is integrally mounted and stowed against a first earpiece. The headset further includes a sliding member which is configured to slidably advance and retract about the first and second cords for organization of same. Foreign Patent Publication No. JP 10308992 to Masuda et al. discloses a device having two left headset wires that are appointed to be completely contained in a cylindrical bag which slidably engages to house the wires therein when the headset is being carried. These types of organization apparatuses fail to provide compression or elongation of the enclosed wire in an orderly, tangle free manner. The wires are not co-joined together, but are merely housed in close proximity with engagement of the slide or bag, respectively. As a result, the wires are subject to entangling with one another, especially within the bag assembly storage structure.
Various wire organizing devices involve a spool type member engageable with associated wires for stowage thereof. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,638 to Burger et al. discloses a cord stowage device that includes a spool having opposed ends with cup-shaped members and a channel through which a cable slidably passes, cavities shaped to receive earphones therein for storage are also provided on the outside of the cup-shaped members; U.S. Pat. No. 7,077,693 to Symons discloses a cable management device having a body with an axis and at least one planar flange and cable retainer for allowing removable attachment of a cable during axial winding in a single plane via a spool; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0123164 to Yao et al. discloses a mobile device cord holder constructed with retaining regions defining a cord holding area appointed to hold a cord in a non-tangling manner as the wire is wrapped or spooled around the cord holding area. Wires associated with these spool type devices do not engage with one another to form a single/co-joined wire. Nor do these spool type devices provide the functionality of compressing or elongating the wires. Instead the wires are merely spooled within the device for storage. As the wires wrap around the spool, the wires are prone to tangling.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct an earpiece or wire organizer that prevents or mitigates entanglement of wires during storage and carrying, there remains a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that can be readily engaged by simply scrunching or compressing and pulling or elongating wires together with a single hand motion. Specifically, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that includes a sleeve appointed to house a substantial portion of a wire. Further, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with mating spine pieces arranged in relation to one another to releaseably engage with one another in a stacked relationship. Moreover, there is a need in the art for an earpiece or wire organizer that provides a sleeve constructed with mating spine pieces arranged in relation to one another to releaseably engage, and thereby compress and elongate a wire housed within the sleeve.